nozzler 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Hi Anyone with experience of both able to give a fair idea on these two. I know Nozawa very well, but not Zao but curious to go. Some people have said how they share similarities (small onsen town and the like). Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 i'm pretty sure the similarities stop at the onsen. come on up for a bath, but don't come all this way for great skiing. i've never been to nozawa but i'm will to bet the resort slaughters zao. Link to post Share on other sites
ghostofwar 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I second exactly what daver said. ...that said, is Zao opening up on Saturday or what? Their website says so, but the pics of the slopes don't show much snow and haven't been updated for almost two weeks. What's the deal? Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 i look at the hill from my school, and there hasn't been much snow up there. we had a bit, then a rash of rain and warm winds melted it. however this last storm may have deposited some good base. the hill has been socked in for the last week so i have only been able to get intermittent glances. not much to base an opinion on, but if they open anytime soon i will be surprised. Link to post Share on other sites
ghostofwar 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Crap. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 yeah, shocked at hearing the saturday opening for Zao. And where's their webcam? I don't plan on going unless it pukes tomorrow. It rained to the top yesterday. Anyway, no need to leave nagano for zao. we do the opposite for our trips. Link to post Share on other sites
ghostofwar 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Not really a webcam but if you go to http://www.zao-ski.or.jp/ they have pics, most recent one is from the 19th. Most recent bulletin is from the 24th, the one that claims a 12/2 opening. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 yeah, they ditched their webcam. They still offer daily photos like you said, but WTF? of course they don't even have a digital camera to take your pass photo. (gotta bring your own... again; WTF?) Next summer I going to buy a chain saw to cut down all their underbrush to make the chair transfers more fun. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 There is an opening ceremony at 11 on the second (tomorrow) Link to post Share on other sites
ghostofwar 0 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 To be honest I don't really give a shit about any opening ceremony... is the place going to be snowboardable or what? Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 maaaaayyyybbeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... if there is nothing to scrape off my driveway tomorrow, I'll wait. it's supposed to get super windy tmrow too. as much as I'm dying to go... Link to post Share on other sites
Zaoman 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I think Zao gets too much stick from some quarters. No, it's not perfect but on a good day it's a cracking place. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 it really depends on what you like to do on the mountain. perhaps my type of fun is different from yours. i will admit that as an intermediate rider, zao would be a great place. it simply lacks the things in want in a mountain. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Is the snow often great up there? Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 generally either too wind scorn or too wind packed. the trees are really tight in all but a few places, and the one place that is 'interesting' to ski is pretty sketch on all but the best of days. it is a big mountain with many different exposures so the snow varies from place to place. it takes a long time to learn to ski this mountain in an efficient manner. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 skied zao today afterall. woke up to rain, then the clouds cleared for long enough to show me a dusting on the trees up high. so I went. It's puking!!! I skied half a meter of wet snow (no base) Only the three main ropeways and trams were running, plus one chair at the top of those. so about 30 chairs were closed. But it was butter smooth, dead, white-out, and I managed to score some good snow. will go again tomorrow if I'm not paralyzed.... it was puking puking puking when I left just before 6. can't believe the ski season just arrived! Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Nice one. Still sleet in Oishida, but we'll see snow tonight. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Quote: Originally posted by samurai: skied zao today afterall. woke up to rain, then the clouds cleared for long enough to show me a dusting on the trees up high. so I went. It's puking!!! I skied half a meter of wet snow (no base) Only the three main ropeways and trams were running, plus one chair at the top of those. so about 30 chairs were closed. But it was butter smooth, dead, white-out, and I managed to score some good snow. will go again tomorrow if I'm not paralyzed.... it was puking puking puking when I left just before 6. can't believe the ski season just arrived! good news man! well i won't be up tomorrow, but i might start as soon as next weekend. i'll keep you posted! Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Sleet has turned to snow in sleepy downtown Oishida. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Quote: Originally posted by brit-gob: Is the snow often great up there? Not wishing to be argumentitive, but I have a slightly different take from daver I don`t ski at Zao either. It`s 55km south (the wrong direction) along Route 13 (a million traffic lights, all on red). The places where I ski are smaller and lower. The snow is never worse than excellent, and always abundant. My skis are now three seasons old, and have no gouges. I`ve never hit a rock. No grass skiing here. It may not be the lightest or driest, but from late December to early March it is always fresh. I`ve skied Europe (Alps, Pyrenees, Scotland), Oz, NZ and Morocco. Yamagata has the greatest snow by far. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 but soub, as you have explained, "The orographic effect is the forced lifting of air and precipitation of snow caused by the the mountain barriers. Here in northern Yamagata, we are in a wind gap between two mountains, hence the very high snowfall we get." zao on the other hand does not get the same snow fall, and when it does snow, it is very often accompanied with very high, unpredictable, winds. thus loading and cross loading slops with heavy, packed, drifts, or scoring slopes down to near ice like conditions. that being said, there certainly are opportunities for great powder at zao, you just need to know where it will be depending on the previous, and current weather. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Fair point. As I wrote, I've never felt the need to make the trip south to Zao. That will probably as my boys come on. Anyway. We had 3-4cm of snow overnight, and it was pretty much stopped earlier this morning. It's picked up now, and looks set to go all day. We'll probably have 10cm + by tonight. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 An easy 20cm when I was out clearing snow this morning. With classic public works borrox, all of the roads are dug up and the sprinklers and drains disabled. Brilliant. Nowhere to dump the snow, other than in the road. My piles caused some consternation for the mums and dads delivering schoolies during the rush 5-minutes. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 just an update. skied zao sat and sun and with all the flack it gets I should give some props for one of the best openers I've ever had anywhere. two days, deep snow, all mine!! most chairs were closed, but skiing what they accessed from the chairs that were available proved a very worthy incentive. Nailed about a dozen lines from the top of Utopia all the way down, alone. waist deep in the steeps, combing tracks next to my own, watching my old tracks slowly fill, wondering why I was the only one... Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 good to finally have some northern debates! Link to post Share on other sites
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